Potential Barriers for Generation Y Employees to Become Corporate Leaders in Sri Lanka

This qualitative phenomenological study examines potential barriers for Generation Y employees to become corporate leaders in Sri Lankan context. Twelve participants holding management roles or seeking leadership from both Generation Y and other generation’s advancement in industrial, agricultural, and service sector were interviewed to assess their perspectives regarding the barriers for Generation Y future leaders. Seven major themes on Research question 2 (What are the reasons, if any, to create leadership gap and barriers for Gen Y to become corporate leaders in Sri Lanka?) were emerged: i. Lack of opportunities; ii. Rigid organizational cultures; iii. Lack of understanding of the generational differences; iv. Vertical organizational structure; v. Lack of soft skills in Generation Y; vi. Lack of ideal leadership personalities in recent pass; vii. Youth massacres happen in 87/89 period and civil war. Other common themes that emerged from the study in the Research question 3 (How to overcome barriers for Gen Y to become corporate leaders and changes to be done at corporate level?) include: i. creating more opportunities for leadership; ii. Developing soft skills through continuous professional development; iii. Changing the government legislations; iv. Making horizontal organizational structures; v. Mentoring and motivation; vi. Entrepreneurial orientation. Results of this study may prove useful to future Generation Y individuals aspiring to hold leadership roles involving management of a multiple-generation workforce. Organizations may find the outcomes of the study beneficial in their continuing efforts to cultivate and develop Generation Y leaders and create more opportunities for Generation Y. This paper suggests that corporate sector of Sri Lanka should more focus on facilitating to the Generation Y leaders to be success in future. Further these highlights the value of understanding about the generational characteristics and suggest to focus on the topics related to the generational leadership in corporate sector Sri Lanka in future researchers.